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Paris - Press watchdog Reporters Without Borders urged media organisations on Friday to take care to protect female reporters from sexual assault while covering unrest in Egypt, following several serious attacks.

The group initially warned women journalists not to work in Cairo's Tahrir Square, epicentre of the revolt against Egypt's junta, at all, but after protests from press unions decided instead to advise great caution.

"It is more dangerous for a woman than a man to cover the demonstrations in Tahrir Square. That is the reality and the media must face it," RSF said.

"It is the first time that there have been repeated sexual assaults against women reporters in the same place. The media must keep this in mind when sending staff there and must take special safety measures.

"We are not saying the international media should pull out and stop covering events in Egypt, but they need to adapt to the threats that currently exist. Women journalists going to Tahrir Square should be aware of this situation."

For the past week Tahrir Square has seen mass protests and violent clashes between regime forces and pro-democracy campaigners demanding an end to trial by military tribunal and a faster transition to civilian rule.

On Thursday, French television reporter Caroline Sinz from the state network France 3 was subjected to a violent sexual assualt by a gang of young men and boys and her cameraman was beaten as they tried to cover the revolt.

Sexual aggression

The attacks came shortly after Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy reported that she had been the victim of a grotesque sexual assault by police after she was arrested during the protests.

Both cases recalled the February 11 sexual assault on South African CBS correspondent Lara Logan, who was seized by a mob as she worked in the square.

Several other women, both Egyptian and foreign, have complained of sexual aggression from both protesters and security forces.

According to a study carried out in 2008 by the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights, more than 80% of Egyptian women suffer sexual assault or harrassment ranging from remarks to leering, half of them on daily basis.

In an initial statement issued late on Thursday, Reporters Without Borders had called on media organisations to temporarily stop sending women to cover the street fighting, but this advice was later withdrawn.

The journalism branch of France's CGT union argued that editors should not decide which reporters to assign to stories based on their gender nor give in to those who would limit women "to the role of wife or mother".

Sending a woman to cover those rapists and lawless fanatics is like sending a man in assless chaps to cover the gay pride post-parade party in San Fransicko.

Here is one for you Tanker.

White House backs Egypt's protesters
The US today urged the Egyptian military to begin immediately handing over power over to a civilian government, throwing its weight behind the resurgent protest movement after days of treading a cautious path between demonstrators and the generals.

A wounded protester with rubber bullet shell casings on his fingertips and one in his mouth, Cairo, Egypt Photo: REX
By Raf Sanchez, Washington8:00PM GMT 25 Nov 2011
In a statement released in the early hours of Friday morning and designed to reach protesters in Tahrir Square as they gathered for an eigth day of demonstrations, the White House told Egypt's military rulers told that the new civilian administration "must be empowered with real authority immediately".
The intervention by President Barack Obama is a rejection of the military's stated plan to retain power in Egypt even after next week's parliamentary elections and only hand it over in full after a president is elected next July.
It comes at the end of a week in which the US angered protesters by walking a fine line between them and the military, to which it provides $1.3 billion (£900 million) in aid each year. The White House has repeatedly called for restraint on both sides despite widespread evidence of brutal tactics by the military in a conflict that has left 41 dead since Saturday.

You can always count on Obama and Hitlery to do the stupidest, most damaging thing possible. And that putz isn't a patch on the ass of the real King Hussein, late ruler of Jordan, who was a highly-intelligent, deep-thinking, and quite realistic man, unfortunately one all too often caught between the hammer of Arab war fever and the anvil of the IDF.

Acclaimed Egyptian-American columnist Mona Eltahawy, released today in Cairo, said Egyptian security forces sexually assaulted and beat her so severely that an arm and hand were broken during her overnight detention.

"I AM FREE," she wrote on her Twitter page just after noon local time. "12 hours with Interior Ministry bastards and military intelligence combined. Can barely type -- must go xray arms after CSF [Central Security Forces] pigs beat me," she tweeted.

Shortly before dawn today, Eltahawy wrote a cryptic tweet that read: "Beaten arrested in interior ministry."

Eltahawy said that while she was in custody "5 or 6 surrounded me, groped and prodded my breasts, grabbed my genital area and I lost count how many hands tried to get into my trousers."

"They are dogs and their bosses are dogs. F*** the Egyptian police," she tweeted...

"Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings..." Patrick Henry

It's a choice between Scylla and Charybdis. The culture is virulently misogynistic and any western woman is considered fair game. The protesters nearly raped that ABC newswoman a few months back, and another journalist was molested by the police. Either way, the networks should be smarter about who they send.

Originally Posted by fettpett

a few of these guys should do the trick

segway's and all :D:D:D

Not a lot of armor on those things, though. There are better crowd control vehicles on the market.